Poachers use power lines to blow fish out of water

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WHEN the lights go out in this Himalayan town, it is not the power company that the residents curse, but fishermen.

Electro-fishing here is not the user-friendly procedure used by fisheries scientists. Here, poachers hook two wires to overhead power lines, then — being very careful where they put their feet — dip the other ends into the river.

“As well as blowing the system, they wipe out everything in that piece of water,” said Vinay Badola, 32, a fish conservationist. “And if one day somebody is taking a swim when the 11,000 volts goes in, they’ve had it too.”